Charles of Lorraine-Commercy

Charles of Lorraine, Prince of Commercy ; contemporary engraving (1700).

Karl Franz von Lothringen, Prince of Commercy, Count of Rosnay ( French Charles François de Lorraine, prince de Commercy, comte de Rosnay ) (born July 11, 1661 in Bar-le-Duc ; † August 15, 1702 near Luzzara ), was an imperial field marshal from French high nobility and close confidante of Prince Eugene of Savoy (* 1663; † 1736). In contemporary sources he is often referred to as the Prince (of) Commercy or simply Commercy .

Like many of the Lorraine military, he joined the imperial army in order to take part in the Great Turkish War (1683–1699), but remained in imperial service when the battle in the Palatinate (1688–1697) and Spanish War of Succession (1701 –1714) now directed against France. In combat, he stood out for his personal commitment and his care in the organization of the troops under his command.

Life

Little is known of his life beyond his military career. This is due on the one hand to his relatively early death, but on the other hand, above all, to the outstanding personality of Eugene of Savoy , against whom the fate of the other imperial commanders of this time was strongly repressed in modern Austrian historiography.

Origin and youth in France

Commercy was born on July 11, 1661 in the Lorraine city of Bar-le-Duc into the House of Guise , which was a branch line of the House of Lorraine and which had been the Dukes of Elbeuf since 1582 . However, the title did not go to his father, François Marie de Lorraine , Prince of Lillebonne (* 1624 - † 1694), as he was only a younger son of Charles II. De Lorraine , 2nd Duke of Elbeuf (* 1596 - † 1657) , and his wife Catherine Henriette de Bourbon (* 1596, † 1663), a daughter of Henry IV of France from a connection with his mistress Gabrielle d'Estrées .

Pedigree of Prince Commercy.

His father embarked on a military career and began his career as a cavalry officer in the French army in the final years of the Thirty Years' War . After a first marriage that had remained childless, the Prince of Lillebonne married Anna of Lorraine-Vaudémont (* 1639; † 1720), a legitimate daughter of Charles IV of Lorraine (* 1604; † 1675), whose ancestors included the French in 1660 King Heinrich II and Catherine de Medici counted. The couple's nine children thus descended from rulers from two ruling French dynasties, Bourbon and Valois . However, only four of the children lived to see adulthood:

• Karl Franz (* 1661; † 1702), Prince of Commercy
• Beatrix Hieronyma (* 1662; † 1738), called Mademoiselle de Lillebonne
• Maria Elisabeth (* 1664; † 1748), called Mademoiselle de Commercy
• Johann Franz Paul (* 1672; † 1693), called Prince Paul .

Charles Franz von Lothringen-Elbeuf received the title of Prince of Commercy because he was the eldest son of the owner of the lordship of Commercy . This was bought from Cardinal von Retz in 1665 by his mother, the Princess of Lillebonne, with the majority of the costs being taken over by her father Charles IV of Lorraine. Later, she left in a succession agreement of 1699 then their lands, subject to a restricted fruit enjoyment , the oldest of her son, who in turn started in the event of his death without male descendants of the Duke of Lorraine as heir.

Commercy's father, the Prince of Lillebonne, who was well respected as an officer, tended to be so extravagant in his private life that his wife was temporarily dependent on donations from War Minister Louvois in order to be able to provide for herself and her family with essentials. Because of the precarious financial situation of the family, Commercy was originally intended for the clergy, but at his own request he was later allowed to become a soldier and in 1681 was awarded a cavalry company by Louis XIV . How highly esteemed the Commercys family was at court around 1680 is testimony to the Ballet du triomphe de l'amour , which Philippe Quinault and Jean-Baptiste Lully wrote in 1681 in honor of the French heir to the throne. Among the homage to the participating members of the court society contained therein is also one to Commercy and his sister Maria Elisabeth.

It is not clear from the sources whether Commercy's friendship with Eugen von Savoyen already existed at that time, it is only certain that the two already knew each other in France. In contrast to Eugen, Commercy had all the prerequisites for a successful career at court and army. There were various reasons why he left the French armed forces anyway. He certainly hoped to make a quick career in the Great Turkish War against the Ottoman Empire , especially since, contrary to his expectations, he had not received any of the French regiments newly established in 1684. Perhaps a certain sense of loyalty to Duke Charles V of Lorraine (* 1643; † 1690) played a role in his decision. In May 1684 he left the troops without permission, whereupon Louis XIV gave the order to imprison him in the citadel of Metz . At the beginning of September 1684, however, it was announced at the French court that Commercy had fled and had arrived in Hungary.

Military career in the imperial army

Depiction of Prince Commercy in the Great Turkish War (1683–1699)

At that time, the Habsburg monarchy was at war with the Ottoman Empire (→ Great Turkish War ) . Duke Charles V of Lorraine served the emperor as a general in Hungary, and Commercy joined him as a volunteer. In the disputes between the Duke on the one hand and the President of the Court War Councilor Herrmann Margrave von Baden on the other, Commercy seems to have taken on a mediating role, but without being able to bring about a reconciliation between the warring blocs.

In 1685 Commercy was wounded during the siege of Neuhäusel , but still took part in the storming of the city. After being wounded again during the second siege of Ofen in the following year, he was promoted to Sergeant General on October 11 for his services . On November 23, Emperor Leopold I also gave him ownership of the Mercy de Billets cuirassier regiment , which then, as was customary at the time, bore Commercy's name.

During a small battle shortly before the Battle of Mount Harsány in August 1687, Commercy's personal company lost its standard. This incident inspired Commercy to do something that was cited in many books as a model of soldiery virtues up until the 19th century.

"Immediately afterwards, on the great day of Mohacz, Aug. 12, 1687, Commercy saw himself a Turk, superbly mounted, caracolling up and down in front of the front, and defiantly waving his copi and flapping it, challenging some Christian knight the white flag attached to it. Angry at the beginning of the Turks, Commercy asked the Duke of Lorraine to leave, to tie up with the Turks and to win a new standard for his regiment. He asked so persistently and so urgently that at last the duke had to consent. Commercy rushed forward and fired his pistol at the Turk. The shot was missing, and the enemy, taking his advantage, ran the prince the copi through the thin side. Then the latter first reached into the copi with his left hand so that the Turk would not pull it back, from the right he threw the pistol, at the same time grasping the pallash hanging on it , and with one blow he fell the Turk's head. Thereupon he pulled the bloody flag from the side to present it to the Duke of Lorraine, but then to hand it over to the cornet of his body comapgnie. He should, he told Cornet, keep this standard better than the previous one, it cost him his own blood. "

The French Marquis de Villars , who attended the campaign as an envoy, confirmed in his memoir that Commercy was wounded by a lance. However, the event must have been embellished. Above all, the exchange of words and sometimes the process are presented differently. At Commercy's request, the captured standard was hung in the Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours church in Nancy , while Commercy's personal company received a new standard that had been commissioned by Empress Eleonore Magdalena .

In 1688, Commercy commanded an assault column in the siege of Belgrade. He was wounded again and then promoted to Lieutenant Field Marshal . When the Palatine War of Succession (1688–1697) broke out shortly afterwards , Commercy was transferred to the Rhine to fight against French troops. In 1690 he prevented the re-capture of Mainz by the French and was then commanded to the Savoy theater of war . In response to Commercy fighting France, Louis XIV revoked him from the title of Duke of Joyeuse, which Commercy had held since 1688. It had been bequeathed to Commercy by a distant relative. Commercy then considered returning to France. Since Louis XIV was not ready to promise him binding impunity for desertion , Commercy remained in imperial service, in which he rose to general of the cavalry in 1692 . In the same year he took part in the siege of Embrun, where a musket ball hit him on the cheek. For the defeat of the imperial troops in the battle of Marsaglia in 1693, their commander-in-chief, Field Marshal Caprara, blamed Eugen von Savoyen as well as Commercy: contrary to his instructions to behave in a wait-and-see manner, they had urged Duke Viktor Amadeus II of Savoy to battle. When the Duke renounced his alliance with the Imperialists in 1696 and sided with France, Commercy challenged him to a duel. Viktor Amadeus II accepted the challenge, but the duel was prevented by the intervention of his court. On May 12, 1696, Commercy was finally promoted to field marshal .

So Commercy was basically entitled to independently lead an army. The first possibility for this would theoretically have been the campaign against the Ottoman Empire in Hungary in the summer of 1697, but Eugen von Savoyen led the way in the Anciennität Commercy and was therefore appointed Commander-in-Chief on the basis of an opinion by the President of the Court War Council, Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg .

In Hungary Commercy was in command until Eugen's arrival. He improved the desolate condition of the imperial army by having the supplies from the main warehouse secured by building three bridges over the Danube and taking measures to combat the Hungarian rebels operating in the area. In the Battle of Zenta Commercy commanded the center and after the battle demanded the march on Temesvar , where the remnants of the badly defeated Ottoman army had withdrawn. Commercy considered the dangers posed by the Ottoman cavalry to be negligible compared to the chance of capturing the central enemy supply depot. Ultimately, however, he had to accept that this operation was impracticable because of the advanced season of the year and the inadequate logistics of the imperial troops. Commercy took part voluntarily in the punitive expedition against Bosnia , which Eugene of Savoy had carried out during the peace negotiations for the purpose of a show of force and deterrence.

Death in the War of the Spanish Succession

Plan of the Battle of Luzzara (August 15, 1702)

When another war against France was brewing in the winter of 1700/01 (→ War of the Spanish Succession ) and Prince Eugene of Savoy was preparing a campaign in Italy, he asked Commercy again as a subordinate. Both were involved in the war planning of the court war council and, despite the poor condition of the imperial army, advocated the immediate start of fighting against France. After the imperial troops passed over the Lessin Alps in May / June 1701, Commercy took part in the battles at Carpi (July 9) and Chiari (September 1) and commanded all troops on the left bank of the Po from November . At this time he also got in touch with two informants loyal to the emperor in Cremona in order to sound out possibilities to capture the city in which the headquarters of the French commander-in-chief Maréchal de Villeroy was located. During the ultimately unsuccessful raid on Cremona (February 1, 1702), Commercy was in the embattled city all day and narrowly escaped capture. In general, the French high command was convinced that Commercy could be kept informed about the French plans through the targeted use of spies and thus created the basis for the surprising successes of the outnumbered imperial army.

In early 1702, the Court War Council planned to send a third of the troops operating in Italy to Naples, Spain , which was allied with France. The aim should be to support an uprising of the loyal nobility against the occupiers. Commercy was to be the commander. In addition to his military experience, Emperor Leopold I relied above all on his diplomatic skills in the anticipated negotiations with the Italian princes, whose territories the imperial expedition corps had to cross. However, Commercy's authority was so severely restricted by conditions that he protested sharply to the Kaiser against this unreasonable restriction of his freedom of action and rejected any responsibility for any resulting failure. In addition, Commercy warned against reducing the troops of Prince Eugene and thus further weakening them in comparison to the already superior French armed forces. Leopold I agreed with Commercy's concerns and in March 1702 ordered the entire company to be postponed to a later time.

In the following time Commercy became seriously ill, probably from typhoid or malaria . Despite the practically non-existent medical care in the imperial army (Prince Eugene had to procure half a field pharmacy at his own expense in 1701), he continued to command the imperial blockade troops off Mantua , but could not prevent the French enemy from relieving the city. In the Battle of Luzzara on August 15, 1702, he commanded the right wing of the imperial army and was fatally hit by several bullets during the first wave of attacks. His body was later buried in the abbey church of San Benedetto di Polirone , his heart in the Église des Cordeliers, the burial church of the Lorraine dynasties, in Nancy.

Since Commercy had never married and had no other illegitimate sons whom he could legitimize, his property in Lorraine fell to Duke Leopold of Lorraine according to the inheritance treaty of 1699 on his death .

personality

The coat of arms of Prince Commercy corresponded to that of the Lorraine-Elbeuf branch.

All contemporary authors emphasized Commercy's courage, which could rise to the point of recklessness in battle and drag the soldiers away, but also blind the prince to danger. So before his death he stopped on a dam, visible from afar, where he presented an easily hit target. In his Portraits des généraux d'armée de l'empereur in 1689 , the Marquis de Villars attested to his courage and above all curiosity, but feared that his violent temperament could get in the way of his career. In his opinions on the political or military situation, Commercy did not take into account the prevailing opinion at court, nor did he feel obliged to confirm the expectations of the military authorities. Despite all factual openness, Commercy always maintained the courtly manners required at the time, which is why his superiors repeatedly assigned him politically sensitive tasks, such as billeting the army for the winter.

On the other hand, there was the apparent mistrust of the military administration in Vienna when it came to entrusting Commercy with an independent command. Despite his fast career up to field marshal, he does not seem to have been considered capable of making the necessary strategic and tactical decisions independently of a superior or colleague. This disregard for Commercy's abilities was only partially directed against his person. Above all, it was the expression of a fundamental conflict in military theory. On one side stood the Viennese military bureaucracy, which was committed to the traditional, resource-efficient warfare of the time. In contrast, Eugen and Commercy's preferred strategy was . Both endeavored to force the opponent into a decisive argument as quickly as possible, even at the risk of greater losses and high risks. Nevertheless, the at least subliminal accusation that Commercy was just a ruthless warrior is not justified. Especially during the debate about the Neapolitan detachment, he emphatically demonstrated that he was quite capable and willing to include strategic and political aspects in his war planning and to defend them vigorously against his superiors, including the emperor - even if they ran counter to his personal interests.

Since Commercy's private correspondence, if any, has not been researched and the Eugens of Savoy are missing, it is not possible to say anything about the details of the friends' private lives. On political and military questions, both were almost completely in agreement. From the outset, Commercy emphasized the consolidation of the Habsburg power as a guideline for his actions, a view that Eugen adopted and shared. How much Eugen trusted Commercy from a strategic point of view is evident from the fact that since the end of 1701 Italy had de facto dual command of the army. All sources unanimously report the deep sadness that Commercy's death caused in Eugene of Savoy and the imperial armed forces.

literature

• Karl Sommeregger:  Karl (Prince of Lorraine-Commercy) . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 51, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1906, p. 52 f.
• Adelheid Suchier: The life of Prince Karl von Lothringen-Commercy , Göttingen 1948 (= dissertation at the Georg August University ).
• KK Kriegsarchiv (Ed.): Campaigns of Prince Eugene of Savoy , Vol. 2–4, Verlag des KK Generalstabes, Vienna 1876–1892.
• C.-E. Dumont: Histoire de la ville et des seigneurs de Commercy , Vol. 2, Numa Rolin, Bar-le-Duc 1843.
• Max Braubach: Prince Eugene of Savoy , Vol. 1, Publishing House for History and Politics, Vienna 1963.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Alternative spelling: Lislebonne.
2. ↑ C.-E. Dumont: Histoire de la ville et des seigneurs de Commercy . Numa Rolin, Bar-le-Duc 1843, Vol. 2, pp. 198-200.
3. ↑ C.-E. Dumont: Histoire de la ville et des seigneurs de Commercy , Numa Rolin, Bar-le-Duc 1843, Vol. 2, pp. 220-227.
4. ↑ Soulié, Dussieux, de Chennevières (ed.): Mémoires et journal du marquis de Dangeau , Paris undated, Vol. 1: 1684–1686, pp. 437–438 ( Gallica ).
5. ↑ This was not a ballet in the modern sense, but a kind of revue in which dance and song numbers alternated.
6. ↑ Le théatre de Quinault , Chez la veuve Duchesne, Paris 1778, vol. 5, p. 107.
7. ^ Adelheid Suchier: The life of Prince Karl von Lothringen-Commercy , Göttingen 1948, pp. 18-19; In some works Commercy is listed as a cousin of Eugen of Savoy, which is wrong. The two weren't closely related.
8. ↑ Soulié, Dussieux, de Chennevières (ed.): Mémoires et journal du marquis de Dangeau , Paris undated, Vol. 1: 1684–1686, pp. 12, 52 ( Gallica ).
9. ^ Max Braubach: Prinz Eugen von Savoyen , Verlag für Geschichte und Politik, Vienna 1963, vol. 1, p. 395, note 129.
10. ^ For example: Dictionnaire historique d'éducation , Amable Costes, Paris 1818, Vol. 1, pp. 343-344; Johann Friedrich Kepner: Acts and character traits of famous Austrian generals , Verlag Degen, Vienna 1808, vol. 1, p. 350; N. Wanostrocht: Recueil choisi de traits historiques et de contes moraux . Guillaume Tegg, London 1867, pp. 150-152.
11. ↑ ^{a b} J. S. Publication, JG Gruber (Hrsg.): Allgemeine Encyklopädie der Wissenschaft und Künste, First Section. AG. Thirty-third part . FA Brockhaus, Leipzig 1840, pp. 120–122.
12. ↑ M. le Mis. de Vogué (ed.): Mémoires du maréchal de Villars , Foucault, Paris 1884, vol. 1, p. 76.
13. ^ Adelheid Suchier: The life of Prince Karl von Lothringen-Commercy , Göttingen 1948, p. 36.
14. ^ Adelheid Suchier: The life of Prince Karl von Lothringen-Commercy , Göttingen 1948, p. 45.
15. ^ Alfred Ritter von Arneth: Prinz Eugen von Savoyen , Historischer Verlag Wilhelm Braumüller, Vienna 1863, vol. 1, p. 63.
16. ^ Max Braubach: Prinz Eugen von Savoyen , Verlag für Geschichte und Politik, Vienna 1963, vol. 1, p. 202.
17. ^ H. Manners Sutton (Ed.): The Lexington Papers , John Murray, London 1851, p. 213.
18. ↑ Ernst Rüdiger Starhemberg: Report of the Court War Council on the division of the generals and the appointment of the commander of the imperial troops under the Elector of Saxony , Vienna, March 15, 1697, printed in: Brauchbach, vol. 2, supplement booklet, p. 409 -412. The originally planned commander-in-chief Friedrich August von Sachsen was no longer available after his election as King of Poland.
19. ↑ Adelheid Suchier: The life of Prince Karl von Lothringen-Commercy , Göttingen 1948, p. 55.
20. ^ KK Kriegsarchiv (Ed.): Campaigns of Prince Eugene of Savoy , Verlag des KK Generalstabes, Vienna 1876, Vol. 2, Supplement-Heft, p. 65.
21. ↑ Max Braubach: Prince Eugene of Savoy . Verlag für Geschichte und Politik, Vienna 1963, vol. 2, p. 262.
22. ^ KK Kriegsarchiv (Ed.): Campaigns of Prince Eugene of Savoy , Verlag des KK Generalstabes, Vienna 1877, Vol. 4, Supplement-Heft, pp. 30–31.
23. ^ Adelheid Suchier: The life of Prince Karl of Lothringen-Commercy , Göttingen 1948, p. 70.
24. ^ Max Braubach: Prinz Eugen von Savoyen , Verlag für Geschichte und Politik, Vienna 1963, Vol. 1, pp. 332–333.
25. ^ KK Kriegsarchiv (ed.): Campaigns of Prince Eugene of Savoy , Verlag des KK Generalstabes, Vienna 1877, Vol. 4, Supplement-Heft, pp. 670–674.
26. ^ Adelheid Suchier: The life of Prince Karl von Lothringen-Commercy , Göttingen 1948, chap. VII, pp. 87-88.
27. ↑ Joseph Sevin Quincy, Léon Lecestre: Mémoires du chevalier de Quincy , Librairie Renouard, Paris 1899, Vol. 2, pp. 182-183.
28. ↑ Bulletin de la société d'archéologie Lorraine , A. Lepage, Nancy 1851, vol. 2 – no. 1, p. 233.
29. ↑ M. de la Chenaye-Desbois: Dictionnaire de la Noblesse . 2nd edition. Paris 1774, vol. 7, p. 588; Héraldique européenne ( Memento of the original of February 24, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . 
30. ^ KK Kriegsarchiv (ed.): Campaigns of Prince Eugene of Savoy , Verlag des KK Generalstabes, Vienna 1876, vol. 2, p. 63.
31. ↑ M. le Mis. de Vogué (ed.): Mémoires du maréchal de Villars , Foucault, Paris 1884, vol. 1, appendix, p. 441.
32. ^ Alfred Ritter von Arneth: Prinz Eugen von Savoyen , Historischer Verlag Wilhelm Braumüller, Vienna 1863, vol. 1, p. 64.
33. ^ KK Kriegsarchiv (Ed.): Campaigns of Prince Eugene of Savoy , Verlag des KK Generalstabes, Vienna 1876, Vol. 2, pp. 62–63.
34. ^ Adelheid Suchier: The life of Prince Karl von Lothringen-Commercy , Göttingen 1948, chap. VI, pp. 74-82.
35. ^ KK Kriegsarchiv (ed.): Campaigns of Prince Eugene of Savoy , Verlag des KK Generalstabes, Vienna 1877, vol. 4, p. 305; Eugene of Savoy: Report to the Emperor. Wahlstatt bei Luzzara, on August 21, 1702 , printed in: War trains , vol. 4, supplement booklet, p. 215.

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